Oscillating nozzle assemblies for hydraulic log barkers



N 1964 D. e. RICHES ETAL 3,158,325

OSCILLATING NOZZLE ASSEMBLIES FOR HYDRAULIC LOG BARKERS Filed Oct. 11, 1963 A Qfi 0 so a'i' r I -a I2 VII 31 42 i .8. 5

nun: amo FOR SMALL L00 17* 5 NOZZLE STROKE I v FOR LARGE LOO )1 -5. 42 38 37 4| I 33 :NVENTORS news 6. RICHES i RAY a. JORGENSEN F1, 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 24, 1964 D, G. RICHES ETAL 3,158,325

OSCILLATING NOZZLE ASSEMBLIES FOR HYDRAULIC LOG BARKERS Filed Oct. 11, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNVENTQRS DENIS G. RICHES RAY 8. JORGENSEN z" J1 (awn United States Patent 3,153,325 OSCILLATRNG NOZZLE ASSEMELIEE FUR HYDRAUHC LOG BARRIERS Denis G. Riches and Ray E. Jorgensen, Seattle, Wash, assignors to Nicholson Manufacturing Qompany, Seattle, Wash.

Filed Get. 11, 1%3, Ser. No. 315,612 9 Claims. (El. 239-187) This invention relates to mechanism for operating the nozzle of a debarking machine which employs high pres sure jets of water to strip the bark from the surface of logs or slabs.

An object of the invention is to provide means for oscillating the nozzle which will enable the stroke to be readily adjusted according to the diameter of the log and if de, sired while the barker is in operation.

A further object is to ensure that the nozzle remains a sensibly constant distance from the log surface during changes in the nozzle stroke.

A still further object is to provide for the alteration of the spacing of the nozzle from the log whereby the stroke is automatically altered a proportionate amount.

Amongst the advantages of this particular design for a nozzle assembly is: simplicity of construction, hi-gh hydraulic ehiciency due to the long straight lead to the nozzle, high operating speeds due to low reciprocating masses and its adaptability either as a fixed or adjustable debarlo ing mechanism.

Referring to the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a reduced scale view of a log barker fitted with the invention. I

FIGURE 2 is a plan of the nozzle assembly.

FIGURE 3 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a detail section taken on the line ld of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 5 is a detail section taken on the line 55 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged transverse section taken on the line 6-6 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 7 is enlarged section taken on the line 7-7 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 8 is a diagrammatic view showing the nozzle adjustment.

The log barker shown in FIGURE 1 consists of an open framework 10 through which logs are moved endwise by means of a horizontal conveyor 12, the logs being held against rotation thereon, by suitable hold down rolls, not shown.

In the framework 1b a slidable sash is mounted and is operatively connected by cables 16 to counterweight devices 17 carried by the sides 18 of said framework. A roller 19 is fitted to the sash 15 and is adapted to ride on the top of the log as it is fed through the barker. The sash is provided with a motor driven eccentric 21 having a sleeve 22. A pipe .24, connected to a source of water under high pressure and fitted with a nozzle 25, is rotatably mounted in the sash as at 26 and slidably extends through the sleeve 22. By mounting the pipe in this manner the nozzle may be reciprocated an equal distance on each side of the centre of the log so as to remove bark from the upper surface thereof.

Supported in the framework 10 and suitably spaced around the conveyor 12, are a number of nozzle assemblies 34 which form the basis of the present invention. If two such assemblies are used as is shown in FIGURE 1 they are upwardly inclined so that each will cover substantially 120 of the logs surface. It will be noted that the several nozzles of the log barker are preferably also inclined away from the direction of travel of the log so that "ice their water jets strike the log surface at an acute angle to remove the bark with a peeling action.

Each nozzle assembly 30 consists of a frame 32 having longitudinal members 33 and end members 34 and 35. Mounted on the members 33 are wear plates 37 which project beyond the sidesof the members to define lateral rails 38. Slidably mounted on the wear plates are outer and inner bases 44} and 41 respectively each having downwardly and inwardly turned side edges 42 which engage the rails 38. As shown in FIGURE 4 the outer base is fitted with clamping bolts 44 which when tightened into zles.

' engagement with the wear plates, hold the base against movement on the frame. Similar clamping bolts 45 are provided on the inner base 41, see particularly FIG-' URE 5.

Depending beneath the base 46 are transversely spaced brackets 48 which journal a shaftd? and secured to said shaft are large and small sprockets 5i? and 51 respectively. The large sprocket engages a rack 54 which extends longitudinally of the frame 32 and is secured as at 55 to the underside of the base 41. The base 44 carries a guide 57 in which the rack 5 3- is slidably received and fitted to said guide is a clamping bolt 58 as shown in FIG- URE 7 and adapted to lock the rack against movement relative to the base 40. The frame members 33 are connected by cross member-s otl which support a rack 611. in engagement with the small sprocket 5i. Bolts 62 are used to secure the rack 61 to its support members so that the rack may be removed if desired for reasons which will later appear.

A double acting hydraulic cylinder as is secured by a fitting 65 to therear member 34 of the nozzle assembly frame. The piston rod 66 of the cylinder is fastened to a bar 67'which connects the brackets 48 of the base 40.

Mounted on the inner base 41 are bearings 7t) which journal a shaft '71 and secured to said shaft is a flywheel 72. A variable speed electric motor 74 is also mounted on the inner base and is adapted to drive the shaft 71 through a reducer 75. Fitted to the flywheel 72 is an eccentrically disposed and rotatab-ly mounted sleeve hearing '77. A tubular arm 79 is slidably supported in the sleeve bearing and is fitted at its inner end with a nozzle 86. The arm 79 has a right angularly disposed portion 81 which is journalled in bearings 82 mounted on the outer base 40. A swing joint fitting 33 connects the portion 81 to a pipe 84 which in turn connected to a suitable source of water supply under high pressure.

If the logs to be debarked are more or less of the same diameter the barker operator may adjust each nozzle assembly to give a fixed stroke during the entire operation. This is done by removing the rack til and backing off the bolt 58 to permit relative movement between the two bases. The first log is moved up by the conveyor and stopped with its leading end aligned with the several noz- The arm 79 is swung into parallelism with the frame 32 at which time the nozzle 8b is aimed directly at a point A on the underside of the log, see FIGURE 8. By moving the base 4%? endwise of the frame the nozzle is positioned the required distance from point A, a distance determined by the hydraulic pressure available, the type of bark, and other variables, whereupon said base is clamped against further movement. The base 41 is similarly adjusted and afixed to provide a nozzle stroke proportionate to the maximum diameter of the log. With the motor 74 running at an appropriate speed and the water pressure on, the conveyor is started to feed the logs past the oscillating nozzles so that the jet strips the bark from the adjoining sections of each log.

If it is judged necessary to vary the spacing of a nozzle from the log surface during the debarking operation the clamping bolts 44 and 4-5 are released and the bolt 58 is tightened to connect the bases together as a unit. Then, by pressurizing the appropriate side of the cylinder 64, the operator may advance or withdraw the nozzle so as to vary its spacing while maintaining a predetermined nozzle stroke.

Alternatively the base 41 may be fixed and the base 40 moved by use of the hydraulic cylinder to alter both the distance and stroke. Obviously as the outer base is advanced towards the inner base the stroke will increase and conversely will decrease as the outer base is moved in the opposite direction.

The preferred method of using the assembly is with the clamping bolts 44, 45 and 53 released and with the rack 61 secured in position in engagement with the pinion 51. This arrangement enables both bases to be moved in unison in the same direction but to a varying degree. As hydraulic pressure is applied to the cylinder 64 to withdraw its piston rod 66 and move the base 46 to the left of FIGURE 3, the rack and pinion drive causes the base .-1 to move to the left also. By virtue of the dilference in size of the pinions Sti and 51, the base 41 moves a greater distance than the base 40. Thus a small increase in nozzle spacing will give a proportionately larger increase in nozzle stroke and vice versa. This enables the barker operator to readily adjust the stroke and distance of the nozzle to suit the diameter of the logs and without the necessity of halting or even slowing down the conveyor. Regardless of the stroke selected by the operator the nozzle at the bottom of its stroke is always aimed at the point A on the bottom of the log.

What we claim is:

l. A nozzle assembly for a hydraulic barker through which logs are adapted to be longitudinally moved, said nozzle assembly comprising a tubular arm, said arm having a nozzle at one end and being connected at the other end to a source of fluid under pressure, means supporting said arm for swinging'movement about an axis substantially normal to the longitudinal axis of the arm with the arm a preselected distance from the surface of the log, oscillating means intermediate the length of the arm adapted to move the nozzle through a preselected stroke and means for moving the oscillating means relative to the arm whereby to vary the stroke.

2. A nozzle assembly as claimed in claim 1 and means for moving the arm supporting means towards and away from the oscillating means to selectively vary the spacing of the nozzle from the surface of the log.

3. In a hydraulic barker adapted to remove bark from a log having relative longitudinal movement with respect thereto, a nozzle assembly comprising a frame, an inner and an outer base slidably mounted on the frame, a tubular arm swingingly mounted on the outer base and being connected to a source of fluid under pressure, a nozzle on the inner end of the tubular arm for directing a jet of fluid against the surface of the log, oscillating means mounted on the inner base and being operatively connected to the tubular arm to swing the nozzle transversely of the log and means for clamping each base in selected position upon the frame.

4. In a hydraulic barker adapted to remove bark from a log having relative longitudinal movement with respect thereto, a nozzle assembly comprising a frame, an inner and an outer base slidably mounted on the frame, a tubular arm swingingly mounted on the outer base and being connected to a source of fluid under pressure, a nozzle on the inner end of the tubular arm for directing a jet of fluid against the surface of the log, oscillating means mounted on the inner base and being operatively connected to the tubular arm to swing the nozzle transversely of the log, releasable means connecting the inner and outer bases and manually controllable means for moving one of the bases endwise of the frame.

5 In a hydraulic barker adapted to remove bark from a log having relative longitudinal movement with respect thereto, a nozzle assembly comprising a frame, an inner and an outer base slidably mounted on the frame, a tubular arm swingingly mounted on the outer base and being connected to a source of water under pressure, a nozzle on the inner end of the tubular arm for directing a jet of water against the surface of a log, oscillating means mounted on the inner base, a sleeve bearing on the oscillating means, said tubular arm being slidably received in the sleeve bearing, and endwise extensible member connecting one of the bases to the frame and means operatively connecting the inner and outer bases.

6. In a hydraulic barker adapted to remove bark from a log having relative longitudinal movement with respect thereto, a nozzle assembly comprising a frame, an inner and an outer base slidably mounted on the frame, a tubular arm swingingly mounted on the outer base and being connected to a source of water under pressure, a nozzle on the inner end of the tubular arm for directing a jet of water against the surface of a log, oscillating means mounted on the inner base, a sleeve bearing on the oscillating means, said tubular arm being slidably received in the sleeve bearing, an endwise extensible member connecting the outer base to the frame drive means connecting the inner and outer bases, said drive means being actuated in response to movement of the outer base whereby to impart a greater movement to the inner base in the same direction.

7. In a hydraulic barker adapted to remove bark from a log having relative longitudinal movement with respect thereto, a nozzle assembly comprising a frame, an inner and an outer base slidably mounted on the frame, a tubular arm swingingly mounted on the outer base and being connected to a source of water under pressure, a nozzle on the inner end of the tubular arm for directing a jet of water against the surface of a log, oscillating means mounted on the inner base, a sleeve bearing on the oscil lating means, said tubular arm being slidably received in the sleeve bearing, a manually controlled endwise extensible member connecting the outer base to the frame, a transverse shaft journalled beneath the outer base, a large and a small pinion secured to the transverse shaft, a first rack secured to the inner base and engaging the large pinion, a second rack carried by the frame and engaging the small pinion.

8. A nozzle assembly as claimed in claim 7, wherein the second rack is removably mounted in the frame.

9. A nozzle assembly as claimed in claim 7, wherein the second rack is removably mounted in the frame and means are provided for locking the first rack against movement relative to the outer base.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,413,341 12/46 Swift 144208.4 2,480,889 9/49 Swift 144-2084 2,502,763 4/50 Swift 144-2084 2,661,781 12/53 Simons 239-543 2,709,465 5/55 Hansel 144-2084 2,765,012 10/56 Riddell et al. 239-243 2,893,452 7/59 Shaw et al. 239-186 FOREIGN PATENTS 157,304 12/56 Sweden.

675,368 12/63 Canada. LOUIS I. DEMBO, Primary Examiner. 

1. A NOZZLE ASSEMBLY FOR A HYDRAULIC BARKER THROUGH WHICH LOGS ARE ADAPTED TO BE LONGITUDINALLY MOVED, SAID NOZZLE ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A TUBULAR ARM, SAID ARM HAVING A NOZZLE AT ONE END AND BEING CONNECTED AT THE OTHER END TO A SOURCE OF FLUID UNDER PRESSURE, MEANS SUPPORTING SAID ARM FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT ABOUT AN AXIS SUBSTANTIALLY NORMAL TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF THE ARM WITH THE ARM A PRESELECTED DISTANCE FROM THE SURFACE OF THE LOG, OSCILLATING MEANS INTERMEDIATE THE LENGTH OF THE ARM ADAPTED TO MOVE THE NOZZLE THROUGH A PRESELECTED STROKE AND MEANS FOR MOVING THE OSCILLATING MEANS RELATIVE TO THE ARM WHEREBY TO VARY THE STROKE. 